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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27284887">Aschenbrödel - Cinderella.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artemisdesari/pseuds/Artemisdesari'>Artemisdesari</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Fairy Tales of Middle Earth [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Erebor Never Fell, Cinderella Elements, Dwarven Ones | Soulmates, Evil Sackville-Bagginses, F/M, Girl Bilbo, Middle Earth Fairytales, girl Nori</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 17:13:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,925</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27284887</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artemisdesari/pseuds/Artemisdesari</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>In time, Bella came to relish the few hours of freedom she would gain of an afternoon when she wandered by the stream and sat beside the old oak with a book pilfered from her father’s long abandoned library in her hands.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>A Cinderella style story inspired by the video to the Faun song, Aschenbrödel, with a little bit of a twist and the second in a series of completely unconnected fairy tales</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bilbo Baggins/Fíli, Dwalin/Nori (Tolkien)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Fairy Tales of Middle Earth [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1992541</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>142</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Aschenbrödel - Cinderella.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Inspired by this song: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_el0Jdq6H8">Faun<i>Aschenbrödel</i></a></p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Bella Baggins, daughter of Bungo Baggins and Belladonna Took, was a bright and sunny child. From the day she was born it was widely agreed that she was a gentle and kind girl, and as she grew she showed only a fascination with the outdoors rather than her mother’s flighty and wild ways. She was, it was thought, the perfect mesh between Baggins good sense and Took mischief. Bella was so gentle, in fact, that the animals that lived in the woodlands around Hobbiton were often seen to come to her hand as though utterly tame. It was, some said, another sign of the Took bloodline which often manifested in longer lifespans and wild behaviour, with a tendency to being less stout than the majority of hobbits. Some Tooks, however, showed a deeper connection with nature and such had been the case with two of Belladonna’s brothers who had disappeared many years before Bella’s birth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So it was, perhaps, this connection with nature which allowed Bella to see what no one else, even the farmer who had laid the trap, had spotted beneath the old hazel tree one autumn morning. For standing there with her foot caught in a snare was what Bella could only call a fairy. Although she was only marginally shorter than Bella’s mother, the fairy was of a delicate, almost waif like, build. Her hair was the same brilliant copper streaked with gold of the falling leaves from the tree she stood beneath and her eyes were a deep hazelnut brown. Bella looked upon her in wonder and although the being did not speak, the child was quick to approach and carefully cut through the snare. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It would not be until later in her life that she would question why the fairy had not been able to free herself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“My thanks, child,” the fairy spoke in a voice that seemed to be the rustle of fallen leaves on the ground though her lips did not move. A delicate hand reached for the young girl, opening to reveal a single hazelnut of bright gold. “I have nothing to give you in thanks other than this,” the voice continued. “One day, when your need is great, hold it to your lips and bite into it. Your wish will be answered.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The fairy was gone in the moment the child’s fingers accepted her gift, and although there were many times in the following years that she was tempted to bite into it she would only hold it before placing it back into the small trinket box upon a shelf hidden at the back of the second pantry. In time, the tiny gift slipped her mind completely, lost in the haze of childhood summers and the comfort of winters curled beside the fire with her parents.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Such bliss could not last, not even for one so fairy touched as Bella Baggins.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When she was twenty-seven her father fell ill one hard winter and through nursing him in his final weeks, Belladonna succumbed to the same sickness. In the space of a month Bella Baggins became an orphan. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Although her father had a number of siblings, most of them had moved some distance from Hobbiton and so it was Bella’s uncle, Longo Sackville-Baggins, and his wife, Camellia, who moved into Bag End to help the young girl in her grief. With them came their son, Otho, some twenty years Bella’s junior. It should, perhaps, have been concerning to the townsfolk that the Sackville-Bagginses had been so eager to help their grieving niece, there was, after all, some manner of disagreement between Bungo and Longo in the years before the former’s passing, and it was known that Camellia had long desired the large burrow for herself. The Sackville-Bagginses were not the wealthiest of the Baggins children, the majority share having gone to Bungo on the passing of his and Longo’s father, and although they, like most hobbits, had desired a large family they had lacked the space in their small smial. Their habit of spending more than they earnt, too, should have been a warning that their care for Bella was not entirely altruistic. Instead the people of the town were simply content to take the word of Longo and Camellia that Bella seemed poised to fall to her grief. Afterall, the fairy touched were more likely to do such things and every hobbit knew it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It started out small. Otho was still young and Camellia quickly fell with child once they moved into Bag End so it was only natural that Bella’s aunt ask her to help out a little bit more around the smial. After all, every activity would help the young lass begin to get her life back together and she needed to learn how to take care of a home like Bag End for when she finally came of age. As Camellia’s pregnancy progressed it was natural that Bella clean the floors, empty the fireplaces and stove, carry the wood and coal into the house, do the laundry and so on. By the time the baby was born, a girl, Bella was doing all of the housework.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then, since the light was better in Bella’s room, Camellia decided to place the nursery in there and move Bella to a smaller bedroom near to the back door of Bag End which had once been used to store Belladonna and Bungo’s personal belongings after Camellia and Longo moved in. Many of their nicer things were taken by the couple, sold or remade for their use, and it was only by chance that Bella managed to hide one of her mother’s dresses and a necklace with a golden rose pendant which had belonged to her. The pendant was worn every day, hidden beneath the bulky rags that Camellia gave Bella to wear and the dress hidden in a watertight chest hidden in a hollow oak tree by the river. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The only freedom Bella was given were the afternoons when Camellia entertained friends and family. The calculating matron could not, after all, allow the others to see just how downtrodden and thin Bella was becoming. In her grief Bella had stopped eating as much, but as she recovered Camellia had still kept her meals restricted. The matron, for all her cruelty, was not stupid and she would chase Bella out into the woods for the duration of the visit, even in the winter, and if anyone were to spot the girl she would say that grief had continued to addle her mind. No matter how many other hobbits Bella approached with details of her life in the smial, Camellia would always have a reason or an excuse which was far more plausible to hobbit ears. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In time, Bella came to relish the few hours of freedom she would gain of an afternoon when she wandered by the stream and sat beside the old oak with a book pilfered from her father’s long abandoned library in her hands.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>One fine spring day, several years after her parents’ passing, as she rested upon an old blanket, her hair freshly washed in the cold stream, her skin free of dust, dirt and ash, and dressed in her mother’s dress as her ragged dress dripped slowly over the branch of a tree, Bella was startled to hear footsteps approach. She looked up from her book, only to see a dwarf emerge from the trees opposite her. Bella froze. It had been years since she had interacted with anyone other than her aunt, uncle and cousins beyond a few words exchanged with others when Camellia could not hide her away for fear of too many questions being asked. All she could do was hope that if she remained still she would not be noticed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was a foolish hope. The dwarf was young, the light of the spring sun catching upon the gold of his hair as he knelt by the stream and scooped several handfuls of water into his mouth. Blue eyes looked up from the water and she watched as they ran over her seated form, taking in the pale rose of her dress, the threadbare blanket she was resting on, and her own golden curls which were still water-dark from her brief wash.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Be at peace,” he said, obviously seeing her rising panic. “I mean you no harm. I sought only a moment of quiet and a cool drink.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His clothes were travel worn, though of a quality she would not have expected from a simple dwarf trader such as she had encountered before her parents had passed, and she could see the hilt of a sword over one shoulder. She should tell him to leave, she thought miserably, for it would soon be time for her to return to the smial to begin working on dinner for her family. Yet, the young dwarf was looking at her with warm eyes and a curious expression, his lips turned up in a half smile and framed by twin braids that were at once both ridiculous and yet utterly charming. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is a peaceful place,” she told him, for lack of a better response. “But it is not mine to dictate who may or may not take their ease here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I would not like to cause you any discomfort,” the dwarf replied in his rich voice, although he shifted so that he could lean against a tree on the opposite bank. “Do you have a name?” He asked her. “I am Fílian,” he added, although the name sounded strange on his tongue, almost hesitant, as though it was not his name at all.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Bel,” She replied. After all, if he could give a false name so could she, and it was not so far from her own name that she would not respond should she hear it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Bel,” he said, and the sound of it made her shiver. He smiled widely. “And may I ask what you are reading, Bel?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I thought you came in search of quiet?” She asked, regretting it in a moment when it came out sharper than she had intended and attempting to soften the question with a shy smile. In truth it would be nice to talk about her book and little else to this stranger.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can I not enjoy a moment of conversation with a pretty stranger?” The dwarf replied, his smile wider as he shifted to put his hands behind his head. He looked up at the treetops, his expression turning wistful. “I should like to spend more time reading for the simple pleasure of it,” he continued, “but more often these days…” he trailed off. “There are other demands on my time.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I should like to have more time to read too,” Bella agreed, although she doubted that the reasons she had so little time to enjoy the activity were anything like the dwarf’s. “As it is, I am reading the first thing I came across in my father’s library. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Tales of Durin the Deathless</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” she held the tome up. “Although given it was written by an elf, I wonder at the accuracy of it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Little to none I would imagine,” Fílian replied with a wrinkle of his nose. “But perhaps you would read a little of it to me, so that I can correct it where needed.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She should refuse, Bella thought, but he smiled so charmingly and she had been isolated for so long that she could not help but to flip it open once more and begin to read. Occasionally her companion would pipe up with a correction or two, although not as many as she had expected, and she read for a little longer until a snore told her that her new friend was asleep. Bella could not say whether she was relieved or offended at it, but rather than wake him, she changed quickly into her almost dry dress and tucked her belongings away inside the chest in the hollow oak before hurrying home.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>To her surprise, when she returned to the spot the following day, the dwarf was there again. And once more on the following day, and the one after that as well. Indeed, every time she was chased out of Bag End over the following two weeks, Bella would reach the stream to find the dwarf already there, or to be joined by him some time after her arrival. She began to look forward to the possibility of seeing him, even though she was certain that she did not have his true name, just as she had not given him hers. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In the beginning, they would talk about the book and the stories that it contained. He would correct pieces here and there, tell her little details which he insisted should not be shared with any who were not of dwarf blood. By the third day he had moved from sitting beneath the tree opposite as she read to joining her on her blanket, by the fifth they would trade the book back and forth as she rested in his arms and they would read together. On the sixth day they dispensed with the illusion of reading altogether and simply talked of little and everything. They would tell stories of their childhood, Fílian would speak of a younger brother with great fondness as she confessed to her solitary youth spent in the woods around the Shire. He told her about his impression of the other hobbits as she scoffed about the excitement that some dwarf prince had decided to visit.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Will you be at the party they are holding for him?” Fílian asked towards the end of the second week when the topic came up. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No,” Bella sighed, although she was sad for it. “It is not really the sort of thing that I enjoy,” she lied.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“A shame,” Fílian replied, his disappointment clear. “I would have liked to share a dance with you.” He ran a finger over the chain which held her mother’s golden rose. “This is dwarf work,” he said, lifting the rose. “I recognise the maker’s mark.” He did not elaborate further, and Bella did not ask. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It was my mother’s,” she replied. “It is all I have left of her.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then it is a treasure of immeasurable value,” he said in a low voice, releasing it gently. There was a moment of silence and when he spoke again his tone was regretful. “In two days I will be leaving,” he told her. “I would stay longer if I could, but once I have attended the party…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It will be time for you to move on,” Bella finished for him. “Will you ever come back?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I would like to,” he sighed, “but my time is not entirely my own. I may come back in a year, I may never return. If I do not see you at the party would you at least allow me to meet you here one last time the morning after so that we might say goodbye?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry,” she whispered, “I cannot come in the morning. My guardians do not allow me to leave the smial before lunch.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then might I come to your home?” He asked. “I cannot abide the thought of leaving without saying goodbye.” She tensed. Camellia would be furious if she discovered that Bella had been meeting this dwarf in secret. “I see.” He shifted so that he could move away from her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fílian, please,” she gasped. “My guardians are strict and I am only just of age. I… I will try to come to you here, I dislike the thought of having to say goodbye at all, but I cannot stand the thought of you leaving without seeing you one more time.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looked down at her, his expression so much more serious than she had ever seen, his eyes searching. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then I hope to see you in two days,” he said finally, “and am only sorry that preparations mean I will not be able to see you tomorrow.” Then he took her hand and brushed his lips over her palm, a small smile crossing them before he took his leave.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bella watched him go in surprised silence and she felt a deep longing fill her. It was not the first time that she had felt such, but this time it was far more powerful than it had been in the past. She lingered for a while longer, her hand cradled over her heart. There was little she would not give, she realised, to be able to leave the Shire with him. It was a distracted hobbit who made her way back to Bag End, far later than she should have, and she quickly met with Camellia’s rage. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I would have let you attend the party,” her aunt hissed as she dragged Bella towards the hidden second pantry once she was dressed to leave for the very same event, “if only to stop the others from asking so many </span>
  <em>
    <span>questions</span>
  </em>
  <span>. But now I see that you are an ungrateful child, and you should be treated as one. Perhaps a few days in here will remind you of what you owe us.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Days, Bella thought in dismay as she heard the key turn in the lock. Fílian would be long gone by the time she was free, doubtless assuming that she did not care about him at all. For a time she could do little other than sob, filled with heartbreak at the idea that she would never see her dwarf again. That was the thought that made her begin to look around the room for something that might help her to escape. It was a little used room, aside from the few times that Camellia had shut her in there in the past, and any food which had been stored there in the past was long gone. Still Bella clambered over the shelves, becoming slowly more and more covered in dust and dirt, until her hands closed about a small box that was thick with years of dust. She frowned as she took it off the shelf, carefully clearing the top off to reveal a plain lid with only her initials carved in the corner. Then she opened it and she sat down hard, the memory of the day that the golden hazelnut had come into her possession flooding through her. For a moment she was grief stricken, if she had only remembered this sooner, perhaps her parents might have survived that winter. After that had passed, however, she was filled with determination. She might not be able to meet Fílian the following morning to say goodbye, but she would be able to find him at the party and try to explain. Perhaps such a desire did not meet the idea of ‘great need’ with which the gift had been given to her, but for Bella it was the one thing she could conceive of wanting at any time in the coming years. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She raised the nut to her lips and bit down.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>You have until midnight</span>
  </em>
  <span>, a voice breathed into her mind, </span>
  <em>
    <span>use the time wisely</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For a moment her world swirled around her, and then she stood at the edge of the pasture beneath the party tree. She passed a burnished silver tray which had been propped against a tent and paused to examine herself. The dust which had coated her skin was gone, her filthy dress replaced with one of a rich red and her curls tamed away from her face using clips of gold. The only familiar thing she wore was the golden rose which belonged to her mother. She barely recognised herself, and as she wandered through the crowds of hobbits she realised that none of </span>
  <em>
    <span>them</span>
  </em>
  <span> knew her either.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The dwarves were easy to spot, standing in a group near the tree as they watched hobbits moving back and forth. Some of her people would approach to talk to one dwarf or another, many were rebuffed by one with a balding head covered in tattoos while others were permitted to approach only to leave with disappointed expressions moments later. </span>
  <em>
    <span>That</span>
  </em>
  <span> would be where she would find Fílian, although what name Bella should use to get close to him she did not know. Still, she drew her head up, keeping her face turned away from her aunt as she passed near to her, and walked towards the dwarves, searching the group for the face which had become so familiar and so dear to her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And where do you think you’re going, lassie?” The large dwarf demanded as she approached. He looked her over. “I haven’t seen you before.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No,” she said, “I...” her tongue failed her, for what could she say.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dwalin,” a familiar voice called, although there was a note of command that she had never heard before, “allow her to pass.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bella looked over as the dwarf stepped aside to see Fílian. He, too, was dressed in a tunic of rich red which had been accented with gold braiding. He looked bored as he examined her, then his eyes fell upon the pendant and she saw the recognition in them. She stepped towards him and he got to his feet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I had not thought you were coming,” he said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know this hobbit, Fíli?” Another dwarf, with sharp eyes and auburn hair, asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know her,” Fílian confirmed even as Bella felt a blush rise in her cheeks. “And I would very much like to have this dance,” he added as he approached with his hand held out to her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a guarded expression in his eyes, as though he expected her to call him out on his name. Instead she accepted with a smile and allowed him to lead her past the guards, who were apparently there for </span>
  <em>
    <span>his</span>
  </em>
  <span> sake, and to the area where other hobbits were enjoying the dance. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I hope you are not too upset by the deception,” he said in a low voice when the dance brought them together for a time. “I prefer not to go by my own name when I am looking for a little peace.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“As long as you can forgive me the same,” she whispered back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“In which case,” he smiled, “perhaps we should introduce ourselves again. Prince Fíli of Erebor, at your service.” For a moment Bella was lost for words, then she realised that he was looking at her expectantly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Bella Baggins of Bag End,” she breathed finally, “at yours and your family’s.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It would have been proper for them to part after that first dance, but Bella found herself reluctant to leave Fíli’s side and he seemed to feel the same. They remained close for the duration of the night, and not even overhearing Camellia lamenting the deterioration of her niece’s mind could ruin her mood. In fact, Bella did not notice it at all, nor did she notice the whispers that followed the two of them as they moved through dance after dance with only the occasional pause for a drink. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was only when Fíli frowned a little and brushed his finger over her cheek that Bella realised how late the hour had grown. It was almost midnight, she realised when she looked at the candles.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I have to go,” she breathed. “I’m sorry. I will never forget this night, it’s been the best of my life, but I really must…” she slipped from his grasp, feet carrying her away from the party and gathered hobbits as she fled. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>By the time she was back at Bag End the spell had dispersed entirely and she was once more in her dust covered, ragged dress with cobwebs in her hair and streaks of dirt on her skin. She slipped back into the smial, relieved to see the door to the hidden pantry open when she reached it, and she settled into the corner of the room with the door closed as she waited. It was only when she reached to hold her pendant that she realised it must have fallen off during her flight. Bella felt a sob escape her, even as she heard the door of the smial open, for in one night she had lost her most precious possession and the dwarf who she knew in her heart was the love of her life.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eventually she fell into an exhausted sleep.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Fíli had not stood idly and watched as Bella fled from him for the smudge of dirt that had shimmered into existence on her cheek as he watched had told him that there was something more happening that he was aware of. He only grew more certain of that when the clothes she wore began to change before his eyes, the colour bleeding from them and the hems fraying as more smudges of dirt started to appear on her skin. So he followed, though the hobbit lass was fleeter of foot which was further to her advantage when he saw a flash of gold in the grass at his feet and he stopped. On the ground was the very same rose pendant that he had been admiring the previous afternoon, one made by his own paternal grandfather during his apprenticeship centuries before though he had not dared to mention it to her. He held it tight in his fist. At the very least it would give him an excuse to catch her up, and he continued up the path to the house she had mentioned. When he reached it, however, he saw only a flash of ragged skirts and a dirt smeared hand before the door slammed. He raised his hand to knock, only to hear voices raised as they came up the path. He would have ignored them, but for the fact that he heard Bella’s name uttered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Bella is of age now, Camellia,” a male voice said and Fíli slipped out of sight. “People are starting to talk and ask questions. We can only continue to claim insanity for so long before the rest of her family starts to make demands that we have her assessed or commited. You know what will happen if we do that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“As if they would take Bag End from the ones who have been caring for it all this time,” a female voice said. “It would not take much to convince them of her frailness of mind, no matter what outrageous claims she might attempt to make. You worry too much, Longo.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He waited in the shadows until the hobbits had entered the house. There would be nothing gained by trying to approach now, save potentially placing Bella in greater danger, and he could only hope that she would manage to meet him by the stream the following morning. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She did not and when it became clear that Bella was not coming Fíli felt despair fill him. His journey through the Shire, a return trip from Ered Luin where the search for his fated bride had proved as unfruitful as ever, had been a desperate attempt to locate the soul created to share his future before he was forced to accept an arranged marriage for the good of their people. Fíli would not have been the first to marry a hobbit, after all, and there was always Kíli to provide children for the purity of the line since he had been lucky enough to grow up with the one he was destined to be with.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She’s not coming, lad,” Dwalin said with a sigh and a glance at his sharp eyed wife. Nori looked up from where she was leaning against a tree, a knife in hand as she picked at her nails.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hardly a surprise if the rumours I heard last night hold any water,” the auburn haired dwarrowdam stated.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What rumours?” Fíli demanded.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The two the stood out the most were that she was either driven mad by the loss of her parents,” Nori slid the knife into the top of her boot, “or she is being kept a prisoner, or worse, in her own home by her aunt.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There was no insanity in her,” Fíli replied firmly. “But there were times…” he sighed, “there was often some fear that I assumed was due to me being a stranger. That she might be held as some form of prisoner in her home is not unreasonable, the disparity of dress between the times when she came across me and those when I came across her should not have been ignored. And yet…” he spread his hands. “Was it so wrong that I wanted to know </span>
  <em>
    <span>her</span>
  </em>
  <span>? I had hoped to have time to get to the bottom of everything else in the future.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You think she might be in danger?” Dwalin asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If the second is true,” Nori stretched and gave her husband a feral grin, “then I am almost certain of it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It is not our place to intervene,” the old guard pointed out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It </span>
  <em>
    <span>is</span>
  </em>
  <span> mine,” Fíli said firmly. “Besides, I have something of hers that I would return to her.” He touched the pendant in his pocket.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The older couple exchanged a look.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If that’s the way you want it,” Nori agreed. “We will follow your lead, young prince,” she bowed mockingly and Fíli gave her a fond smile. He had resented being told that he would be accompanied by his uncle’s spymaster and shield brother as well as his own guards, but the journey had made him appreciate their presence and their friendship. Especially when the dwarf settlements in Ered Luin had proved as fruitless in his search as so many others.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bag End, Fíli was unsurprised to learn, was not far from the place he had been meeting Bella and it was only a matter of twenty minutes before he was knocking on the door to the smial. This was not the polite tinkle of a bell or the gentle tap of a hobbit, it was the firm thud of a dwarf fist, even one wearing a leather glove. Fíli was dressed for travel, wearing his fur trimmed coat and his twin blades strapped across his back, and he was not in the mood to be denied that which his heart most desired. Namely Bella Baggins’ agreement to allow him to return and court her properly if she would not agree to go with him to Erebor. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I wish to see Bella Baggins,” Fíli announced when the matronly hobbit he had seen entering the house the night before had opened the door.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” the hobbit simpered. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know this is where she lives,”  Fíli said firmly, “this is the address she gave me, I saw her return to it last night with my own eyes. I want to see her.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She wasn’t at the party,” the matron sneered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She was there,” Fíli insisted. “And I heard your conversation with your husband last night. You will allow me to see her, or I shall go to her family with my suspicions.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For a moment he thought that the hobbit would decide to call his bluff, after all Fíli had no idea who might be a member of Bella’s family and it would take him long enough to discover the information that the one in front of him would have ample time to cover her tracks. Instead she hissed an angry invitation into the smial and vanished down one of the corridors after leading Fíli, Nori and Dwalin into what appeared to be a very neatly kept and well appointed parlour.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Shortly afterwards the hobbit reappeared with another in tow and Fíli could hardly believe that it was Bella, though his heart and soul insisted this was the one he was meant to be with. The girl in front of him had eyes that were rimmed red, her dirt covered face streaked with tear tracks. Her dress, faded and frayed, was nothing like the garment he had seen her in the night before, and yet he could see the splendour that might once have existed when it was new had it fitted properly. Just as beneath the cobwebs and dust he could see the golden curls that had first caught his attention, and the momentary glimmer of hope in green eyes before she turned her gaze away as her guardian made an impatient noise.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I am Bella Baggins,” the girl before them said and if Fíli had not known her before, he would know her then, for the soft voice was the same as the one that had spoken so gently to him beside the stream.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know,” he replied and her head flew up. “I would know you if I were blind and deaf, Bella.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She moved to step towards him, green eyes wide with wonder, only to pause when her guardian reached out and grabbed her arm. Behind him, Fíli heard Dwalin free one of his axes and knew that his guard and friend would be there with the heft held loose enough to be relaxed but in such a position that could instantly change. The matron stepped back fearfully and even Bella cast a wary glance in Dwalin’s direction.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Bella,” Fíli moved towards the girl, his steps slow to avoid spooking her further. “I came this morning to ask if you would be receptive to the idea that I come back and court you properly,” he saw her lips part in disbelief and disappointment clouded her features. “Now that I have seen you this morning, however,” he continued, “I believe I should instead be begging you to allow me to take you away to Erebor with me this instant.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m hardly worthy of a prince,” Bella whispered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You are more than worthy,” Fíli replied. “I cannot leave you here, Bella, I will not abandon the other half of my soul that way. Come with me to Erebor, please. If you cannot marry me straight away, at least let me court you in comfort and safety.” He held his hand out to her, praying to his Maker that she would accept his offer. She slipped her delicate hand into his.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Take me with you,” she breathed. “I would welcome anything you offered me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He smiled, feeling as though he would burst with happiness at her acceptance, though he could see a lingering sorrow about her eyes and much as he wanted to kiss her, he could not bring himself to do so before removing that last source of pain.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There is one other thing,” he told her, reaching into his pocket to pull out the necklace. “A treasure of immeasurable worth that I would return to you.” He only hoped that he would one day be able to put such a smile upon her face again as he saw in that moment before he erased it with a kiss.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<span>The pair were married, exactly one year from that morning although much of Erebor wondered that they had waited even </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> long. The Sackville-Bagginses, by virtue of the fact that so many saw the condition of Bella’s clothes upon her departure and the party making a brief detour to see her Uncle, the Thain, were dealt with severely and ostracised by many in the Shire. Bella’s home, filled as it was with memories that gave her a great deal of pain, was passed to another cousin. As for the happy couple, they never returned to the Shire, content with their life together in the Lonely Mountain.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Do I speak German? Very little. Do I listen to a number of German groups? Well, yes. Should I have written this? No, I do actually have other things I'm supposed to be doing. Like more maths. Do I care that I should be doing the other things? Also no. I suppose that Fairy Tales of Middle Earth is another thing I have though. Back to Jewel of Durin.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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